Blacksburg, Va. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team erased a 13-point deficit in the first half and a dunk from senior guard Tarence Guinyard with 43.4 seconds to play snapped an 80-80 tie as the Dukes earned an 83-81 victory in an exhibition game Saturday in Blacksburg, Va., at Cassell Coliseum.
 
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
A pair of free throws from Jaden Schutt gave the Hokies a 78-75 edge with 2:34 to go, but Duquesne closed on an 8-3 surge to earn the victory. Guinyard ignited the deciding run with a three-pointer that tied it, and his dunk on a feed from senior forward David Dixon after a steal gave the Dukes the lead for good. Junior guard Jimmie Williams helped seal the victory by hitting the front end of a pair of free throws with 13.9 seconds remaining. Both Guinyard and Williams scored 21 points to lead Duquesne, with Guinyard adding eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. Combined, the duo hit 14 of their 27 attempts from the field, including 6-for-13 from beyond the arc.

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"I thought in the second half we played with great pace," head coach Dru Joyce III said. "Our bigs did a terrific job running the floor and creating opportunities at the rim. It was a total flip in points in the paint from the first half to the second half to where we ended up winning that battle. It became a seesaw battle, but I'm proud of the poise we had. Sure, it was a road exhibition game. You have a crowd. There was momentum involved, and I think we handled those situations. We have some confidence, some fight and some punch, and those are things we can take into the regular season."
 
OPENING REMARKS
The Hokies hit eight of their first nine shots from the field in the contest, grabbing their first double-digit advantage at the 13:44 mark thanks to a three-pointer from Tobi Lawal, 19-8. It capped an 11-0 run for Virginia Tech after a triple from Guinyard had tied the contest, 8-8. The Dukes chipped away in the final segment of the first half. A three-pointer from Ben Hammond and a dunk from Lawal had given Virginia Tech its biggest lead of the half, 37-24, but Duquesne used a 7-2 burst to close to within 39-34 at the break. Redshirt sophomore Stef van Bussel converted a layup, Guinyard added another and six consecutive points from Jimmie Williams, including a three-pointer, settled the score at the break.

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"You always think you have depth until you have to use it," Joyce III said. "I do believe we have good depth, though. Dom Aekins had some challenges tonight, but he still was able to give us quality minutes and balance us and give us minutes at point guard. Our wing play was really good, too. I told Max (Edwards) after the game that his poise and confidence and communication with the group was really steady. He was leading a lot of those conversations. I like the contributions. We had a well-balanced attack."

NOTES
Duquesne shot 47.6 percent (20-for-42) from the field in the second half and 43.1 percent (31-for-72) overall ... The contest featured eight ties and seven lead changes, with each of the lead swings coming in the second half ... The Dukes owned a 44-36 advantage in points in the paint and also outscored the Hokies, 15-6, in points on the break ... Duquesne earned a 41-40 edge on the glass, including 12-8 in offensive caroms ... The starting lineup included Guinyard, Williams and senior Cam Crawford at guard, junior forward Jakub Nečas and center John Hugley IV ... In eight minutes Hugley IV scored 10 points ... Ben Hammond led the Hokies with 22 points off the bench on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc ... Lawal added 20 points and eight boards for Virginia Tech ... Freshman Lazar Milošević contributed five points and a rebound in just under 10 minutes, while Stef van Bussel contributed four points and three boards in just over 13 minutes ... Senior guard Maximus Edwards tallied eight points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 17 minutes ... Duquesne finished 9-for-31 (29 percent) from deep compared to 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) for Virginia Tech.

AT THE SCENE
Saturday's exhibition marked Duquesne's first visit to Cassell Coliseum since the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), a game the Hokies won in two overtimes, 116-108. Former guard Aaron Jackson (2005-09) put forth a virtuoso scoring performance for the Dukes, pouring in 46 points while also adding five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. He shot 15-of-25 from the field, including 8-for-13 from beyond the arc, and finished 8-for-9 at the free-throw line. The 46 points were the most scored by a member of the Dukes since guard B.B. Flenory dropped 48 in an 85-74 victory over Ohio in Morgantown, W.Va., as part of the West Virginia Classic. The total for Jackson ranks fourth in the Duquesne single-game scoring records and is the last time a member of the Dukes reached the 40-point plateau.
 
UP NEXT
Duquesne will open the 2025-26 regular season with a three-game homestand at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. In the season opener, the Dukes will host Niagara in a 7:00 p.m. tip Monday, Nov. 3. Season and single-game tickets are on sale now.
 
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